The Best Friend of the Person I Like is Secretly Approaching Me - Chapter 95

Chapter 95

Our field trip began with Moriya arriving late and getting scolded by Matsui-sensei in front of all the second-year students.

In my mind, a field trip was an event where everyone walked together towards some predetermined goal, but it seems that as high school students, we’re allowed a fair amount of freedom.

Well, that might just be our school.

There’s supposedly a learning objective to get to know our local area, but I think the students’ minds are filled with thoughts of playing and eating.

In fact, Haru’s head is probably filled with such things.

However, she seems to have researched a lot about Enoshima before coming here, so maybe she’s actually the one who’s fulfilling the objective the most.

In order not to cause any trouble to the locals or other visitors and to behave in a way that would not bring shame upon our school, we received a lengthy caution from sensei before we departed from the station.

With roughly 200 people in our group, it wasn’t possible for all of us to head out at once, so we left in order, starting with the first group.

We were in the second group, so we were among the earlier ones to leave.

From the line of the fifth group, we could hear grumbling complaints.

“Where do you plan to go, Oda?

“Hmm. I intend to go on a gourmet tour with my comrades from the Manga Research Club. Unlike Seko, my girlfriend is in a different grade, so I have no plans to visit any so-called lovers’ spots.”

“Well, that makes sense. By the way, where did the first-year students go?”

“It seems they went to Kamakura. They plan to enjoy the hiking course at Gion-yama (a hiking trail) first, then take a break on Komachi Street before heading back.”

“Hiking? Sounds like a typical school field trip.”

“Well, we’re about to go on a sort of hike ourselves. Seko, don’t underestimate the ‘ups and downs’ of Enoshima.”

I received such a warning from Oda, but I wasn’t quite getting the picture.

I had apparently been to Enoshima once with my parents, but I was very young at the time and had no memory of it.

Perhaps that’s why I was feeling quite fresh and a little excited about going to Enoshima.

Then, at the teacher’s signal, our group also left the station.

There’s no sea in the town we live in, so we couldn’t help but exclaim, ‘Wow’ after seeing the vast ocean spread out before us.

We occasionally spotted people surfing.

When I think of Shonan, surfing definitely comes to mind. It’s indeed one of the area’s specialties.

“Haru, have you ever tried surfing?”

“Not yet. I do like being active, but that doesn’t mean I’ve done all kinds of sports. Plus, it seems like a high hurdle for beginners. What about you, Misa?”

“I haven’t either. I tend to develop a sense of difficulty towards activities that require body movements I can’t imagine, so I don’t really feel like doing it. It would be nice if I knew someone who was an expert who could help.”

“That’s true. I do want to try it at least once, but I’d like to do it with someone teaching me.”

As the two were having this conversation, Moriya joined in from the side.

“I can surf! Not to brag, but I’m pretty good at it! How about I teach you next time?”

With a look that seemed to have an ulterior motive, Moriya made that offer, causing Haru to tense up and hide behind Misa’s shadow.

Then Misa glared sharply at Moriya.

“No, thank you.”

It was a short phrase, but one could clearly read the rejection in it.

Even Moriya seemed to pick up on that, as he let out a strained laugh and said, ‘Ah, haha, got it’, before quickly moving away from the two.

“Ugh, thank you, Misa. I just can’t seem to get comfortable around Moriya-kun.”

“It’s okay. I’m not fond of him either.”

I also found him difficult to deal with.

“Have you ever tried it, Rento-kun?”

“Nope, never. I don’t even feel like I could do it. I can already see myself becoming seaweed before becoming friends with the waves.”

“Fufu. True, I can’t imagine Rento-kun surfing smoothly.”

“Right?”

I can’t imagine myself looking that cool either.

“Hey! Last year we went to the pool, but let’s go to the beach this summer!”

We all nodded in response to Haru’s suggestion.

I wish we could swim together again, I thought.

A smile spread across my cheeks as I picture a slightly future version of ourselves.

However, that imagined scene was swallowed up by the waves of Shonan seen from the bridge and carried off somewhere.

***

Having crossed the bridge, we were granted freedom by Matsui-sensei.

We started off a bit later after watching our classmates instantly scatter.

“There really are a lot of seafood places around here.”

“That’s true, but it’s still too early to eat. Maybe we should go further in for now.”

“Octopus crackers! I want to eat octopus crackers! And for lunch, let’s have shirasu-donburi! (young sardines)”

“When you say Enoshima, that’s the kind of image you get, isn’t it? Okay, let’s do that. Is that okay with you, Misa?”

“Yeah. That’s fine.”

And so, we decided to proceed further.

Along the way, we came across a shop selling octopus crackers, so we decided to stop by and buy some.

“For now, should we buy one each?”

“That sounds good. I’ll pay for Rento-kun’s share.”

“Oh, no need, I’ll pay for my own port.”

“Please. I want to pay for this. At least let me cover the cost of the cake from before.”

The cake from before’ must refer to the gift I brought when I visited the Yosaki family.

At that time, I bought cakes for both Misa’s family and Saki-chan’s family, but only Misa was at the Yosaki’s house, so we ended up with a lot of cakes left over.

Since I took Saki-chan’s family’s share back home and had my mother and father eat it, there’s no need for Misa to worry about it. But knowing her character, she wouldn’t back down even if I refused her offer.

So, I decide to accept her kind gesture.

“Then I’ll let you pay for it.”

“Fufu. Thank you, Rento-kun.”

“Why are you thanking me?”

“I’m just grateful for Rento-kun’s kindness.”

I don’t know what part of me she felt was kind, but I kept my mouth shut because I didn’t want to be teased again.

Then, Misa made a slightly sulky face. It seemed that was her actual intention.

That was a close one.

“Hey, what’s this talk about cake?”

Haru, who had been listening to our conversation from the side, asked with a slightly anxious expression.

I haven’t told Haru that I visited Misa’s house, and it seems like Misa hasn’t told her either.

“I dropped by Misa’s place the day before that rumor started circulating. I brought a cake as a gift when I went.”

“…I didn’t know that. Seko, didn’t you also brought a cake when you came to my house before?”

“I’ve never really bought a gift before, so I just went with the same cake I chose for Haru’s visit.”

“So, the gift you brought to my place was Seko’s first?”

“Uh, yeah. I guess you could say that.”

“Ehehe, I see. I’m the first, Seko’s first.”

The look of anxiety disappeared from Haru’s face.

As I was relieved to see her relax, Misa suddenly gripped my hand.

I instinctively turned to look at her, and after she stared intently into my face, she slightly smiled, turned her head away, and let go of my hand.

Somehow sensing her feelings, I decided to follow her gaze.

The octopuses being pressed by the machine in front of us were making a squeaky, almost scream-like sound as they turned into crackers.

“This sound is kind of scary, isn’t it?”

Misa grimaced slightly and expressed her sympathy for the octopuses.

On the other hand──

“It looks delicious…!”

Haru is showing a style of purely pursuing the joy of food.

Holding an octopus cracker larger than her face, Haru beams with joy. Thinking of showing this to Yoh-san and Matsui-sensei, I captured the moment in a photo.

With a slightly embarrassed expression, Misa lined up her face with the crackers and conveyed to me, ‘It’s really big, isn’t it?’

I could tell she was excited in her own way, and I found her behavior adorable.

Before I knew it, I had snapped a photo with my camera.

Then we all bit into our crackers. With a crisp and pleasant sound, the flavor of octopus spread through our mouths.

“Delicious.”

“Tasty.”

“Yummy!”

We chuckled as we looked at each other and praised the crackers in unison.